Mouth guard for animals



Jan. 12, 1932'. H J KAEHLER 1,840,957

MOUTH GUARD FOR ANIMALS Filed Aug. 21, 1929 INVENTQ/T, fl. C7.K115174157, 57/275 flTTfli/Y )5.

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 uurrsnfsTATEs PATENT orrica HENRY JOHN KAEHLER,OF WALNUT GROVE, MINNESOTA MOUTH GUARD FOR ANIMALS Application filedAugust 21, 1929. Serial No. 387,365.

a simple, inexpensive and yet very efiicient guard which will protectthe mouth of the animal from insects.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a guard for the mouthof an animal, which guard is made from leather or some similar materialand is substantially of baglike form, the sides converging toward acentral point, said member having a projection extending upwardly in therear of the animals jaw.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple andefiicient guard, made of leather or similar material, for the mouth of van animal, said guard to be in the form of a bag of substantiallyconical form, one side of which extends across the bottom of the mouthand one side of which. extends upwardly in the rear of the animals jaw,said latter side having an upwardly extending projection, the othersides being disposed at the sides of the animals mouth and havingupwardly extending projections forming slots with said first mentionedprojection, a drain hole being provided at the central lower portion ofthe device and said device having means for supporting the same from thehead or the bridle of an animal. These and other objects and advantagesof the invention will be fully set forth in the following descriptionmade in connection with'the accompanying drawings, in which likereference characters refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews, and in which i Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the device,the head of the animal wearing the device being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 as indicated by thearrows, and

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3 -3 of Fig. 1 as indicated by thearrows.

Referring to the drawings, a guard 5 is shown, which preferably will bemade of leather or similar material. lVhile the parts of the guard mightbe variously formed, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated onit is shown as made from two similar pieces of material 6 connectedtogether by a seam 7 extending along a central longitudinal line of thedevice. While the guard could be said to have a lower portion, a rearportion and opposite side portions, yet these portions are all connectedand merge into each other so that the guard is in the form of a bag-likemember of substantially conical shape, the sides all converging toward apoint disposed substantially mid-way of seam 7. A single drain hole 8 isformed at said point. The rear portion 5a is disposed at the rear of thelower jaw of the animal as shown in Fig. 1

and this portion has a projection 56 which extends upwardly quite adistance at the rear of the said jaw. The lower portion 50 is disposedbelow the animals mouth and the side portions 515 extend at the sides ofthe animals mouth or head, these portions 5d each having an upwardlyextending projection 56. It will be seen that the projections 56 formrespectively, with the projections 57), slots 5f. These slots will bedisposed at the sides of the upper portion of the mouth of the animaland the bit 15 of a bridle may extend through these slots. The reins 16can thus pass to the rear outside of the guard. Straps 9 are attached tothe projections 56 and extend upwardly therefrom, the same 35 beingsecured to rings 10 at their upper ends. Another strap 11 is secured atits ends to rings 10 and extends around the front of the animals head.Another strap 12 extends from the central portion of strap 11 to whichit is secured, downwardly at the front ofthe animals head and is securedat its lower end to the front central portion of portion 50,

the same being shown as extending below portion 50.

The device as described forms a unit which can be applied to the animalshead as illustrated in Fig. 1 and be secured to a bridle or halter wornby the animal. In Fig. 1

the device is illustrated as being held on the applicants animals headby straps 13 secured to the rings 10 and extending over the top of thehead, said straps being adjustably connected by a buckle 14 carried byone of the same. Strap 13 may form a portion of the bridle on theanimal. The device will ordinarily be placed on the animal when it iswearing a bridle or is harnessed. The portions 5b, and 50 protect theunder part of the animals mouth and prevent the flies from striking orstinging the animal from underneath.

The projection extends quite a distance upwardly at the under part ofthe rear jaw and affords good protection. Any moisture enterin thedevice, such as the slobbers of the horse, will drain through theopening 8. Thenostrils of the animal are disposed atthe front of theside portions 5d, so there will be no interference with the breathing ofthe ani mal. From the above description it is seen that applicant hasprovided a very simple and eflicient guard for the lips or mouth of ananimal, such as a horse. The device is easily and inexpensively made andcan be easily and quickly applied. The same has been amply demonstratedin actual practice and found to be very successful and eflicient.

It will,,of course, be understood that various changes may be made'inthe form, details proportions and arrangement of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of invention which, generally stated, consistsin a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in thenovel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in theappended claims.

.- What is claimed is:

1. A guard for protecting the lips and lower jaw of an animal frominsects coin prising, a bag-like member made of two simi- .lar butoppositely disposed pieces of sheet material, such as leather, saidpieces being joined by a seam extending along a central longitudinalline, the side portions and the and rear portions of said member 0011-verging substantially to a point located on said seam, said memberhaving a single drain q hole substantially at said point and havingprojections extending upwardly at each side and a projection extendingupwardly from its rear side adapted toover-lie the lower'j aw of theanimal, said member having slots formed between said rear projection andthe projections at. the sides through which the .bli) of a bridle niayextend, and supporting means for said device secured to saidproject-ionsat the sides.

I 2. Aguard for protecting the lips and lower jaw of an animal frominsects comprising a bag-like member made of two siini lar butoppositely disposed pieces of sheet material, said pieces being joinedby a seam extending along a central longitudinal line, the sideportionsand the front and rear portions of'said member converging substanti-

